mecha
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Mecha, also known as meka or mechs, are walking vehicles controlled by a pilot. Mecha are generally, though not necessarily, bipedal. In most science fiction stories in which they appear, mecha are war machines: essentially armored fighting vehicles with legs instead of treads or wheels. Some stories, such as the Japanese manga Patlabor, also encompass mecha used for civilian purposes such as heavy construction work, police functions, or firefighting.
Some sci-fi universes posit that mecha are the primary means of combat, with conflicts sometimes being decided through gladiatorial matches. Others represent mecha as one component of an integrated military force, supported by and fighting alongside tanks, fighter aircraft, and infantry, functioning as a mechanical cavalry. The applications often highlight the theoretical usefulness of such a device, combining a tank's resilience and fire power with infantry's ability to cross unstable terrain.
The distinction between true mecha and their smaller cousins (and likely progenitors), the powered armor suits, is blurred; according to one definition, a mecha is piloted while a powered armor is worn. Anything large enough to have a cockpit where the pilot is seated is generally considered a mecha.
The first occurrence of mecha in fiction is thought to be the novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells where the Martians use tripod walkers very similar to mecha.
Rarely, mecha has been used in a fantasy convention, most notably in the anime series Aura Battler Dunbine, The Vision of Escaflowne and Maze. In those cases, the mecha designs are usually based on some alternative or 'lost' science-fiction technology from ancient times.
Word origin and usage
The term "mecha" is derived from the Japanese abbreviation meka (メカ?) for the English word "mechanical". In Japanese, "mecha" encompasses all mechanical objects, including cars, guns, computers, and other devices. In this sense, it is extended to humanoid, human-sized robots and such things as the boomers from Bubblegum Crisis, the similar replicants of Blade Runner, and cyborgs can be referred to as mecha, as well as mundane real-life objects such as industrial robots, cars and even toasters. The Japanese use the term "robots" (ロボット robotto?) or "giant robots" to distinguish limbed vehicles from other mechanical devices. The first widespread English language usage of the term was in the animated series Robotech which was an english dubbing and rewriting of three different anime and the terms usage since then has mostly associated in the west with either robotic (occasionally transforming) piloted vehichles or powered armored battlesuits which are worn akin to exoskeletons. There are exceptions; in the film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, the word is used to describe 'mechanicals' (robotic humanoids), as opposed to 'orga' for 'organics' (humans).
When respect to powered armorsuits, mecha typically do not refer to form fitting garments such as the Iron Man armor. Armored suit mecha tend to be much larger and bulkier than the wearer and the wearer's limbs may or may not actually extend completely into the respective limbs.
The Life Model Decoys in the Marvel Comics miniseries Livewires refer to themselves as mecha.
The term "mech" is used to describe such vehicles considerably more often in Western entertainment than in Asian entertainment. "Mech" as a term originated from BattleTech (where it is often written as 'Mech, short for BattleMech or OmniMech), and is not used in Japan in other contexts except as an unintentional misspelling of "mecha." (One exception is the Japanese version of BattleTech, which attempts to retain the English word.) In Japanese, "robot" is the more frequent term (see 'Other meanings' below). In the Japanese stories themselves, they are seldom known as "mecha".
East and west
Robot mecha are quite popular in Japanese manga, and by extension anime. In Western entertainment, they are occasionally seen in video games, especially the action, strategy and simulation genres, but the most well-known Western context for mecha is BattleTech. The original BattleTech - a tabletop strategy game - has been the basis of numerous games and products in other media. FASA, the company that produced BattleTech, was sued for copyright infringement for using several mecha designs from Macross and other anime series without the proper copyright licenses[1] (the first edition of BattleTech, then named BattleDroids, actually included two Japanese 1/144 model kits from the Fang of Sun Dougram anime series).
Mechas in film and literature
In Japan, "robot anime" (known as "mecha anime" outside Japan) is a genre that features the vehicles and their pilots as the central plot points. Here, the average robot mecha are usually twenty feet tall at the smallest, outfitted with a wide variety of weapons, and quite frequently have tie-ins with toy manufacturers. The Gundam franchise is a prominent example: Gundam toys and model kits (produced by the Japanese toymaker Bandai) are ubiquitous in Japan.
The size of mechas can vary according to the story and concepts involved. Some of them may be not taller than a few meters high (Gundam, Escaflowne), others can be as tall as a skyscraper (Space Runaway Ideon). There are also mechas which are big enough to contain the population of an entire city (Macross) and some by the size of the entire Earth. The last episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is an example that the size of the mecha are only limited by the imagination of its creators, as it depicted a clash between two machines, each one of them being larger than entire galaxies.
The genre started with Mitsuteru Yokoyama's 1956 manga Tetsujin 28-go (which was later animated in 1963 and also released abroad as Gigantor). Its inclusion is debatable however, as the robot was controlled by remote instead of a cockpit in the machine. Not long after that the genre was largely defined by author Go Nagai, into something considerably more fantastical. Mazinger Z, his most famous creation, was not only the first successful Super Robot anime series, but also the pioneer of the genre staples like weapons that were activated by the hero calling out their names ("Rocket Punch!"). It was also a pioneer in die-cast metal toys such as the Chogokin series in Japan and the Shogun Warriors in the U.S., that were (and still are) very popular with children and collectors.
Robot/mecha anime and manga differ vastly in storytelling and animation quality from title to title, and content ranges all the way from children's shows to ones intended for an older teen or adult audience.
Some robot mecha are capable of transformation (Macross to name but one) or combining to form even bigger ones (see Voltron). Go Nagai is also often credited with inventing this in 1974 with the television series Getter Robo.
The mecha genre in anime is still alive and well in the new millennium, with revival OVAs like Getter Robo: the Last
Day, Diebuster and Mazinkaiser from the
Super Robot tradition, the new
The Hollywood movie Aliens featured a cargoloader as a civilian mecha (although this instance blurs the line between being a mecha or an exoskeleton). More famously known for impacting American citizens is the film Robot Jox, featuring two giant mech fight scenes.
Arguably, the concept of piloted mecha goes back decades before Tetsujin-28. The tripods featured in The War of the Worlds, with advanced weaponry and dedicated piloting stations, are perhaps the forerunners of modern mecha.
Mecha are often featured in computer and console games. Because of their size and power, and the resultant potential for massive property damage resulting from that size and power, mecha are quite popular subjects for games, both tabletop and electronic.
Notes and references
- ^ The related lawsuits were settled out of court, and later products of BattleTech do not use the designs under contention.
See also
External links
- Gears Online
- Brickshelf Lego mecha galleries
- Mecha Anime HQ: Extensive coverage on Gundams and other mecha.
- real projects
- http://www.mechaps.com
- http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp (it walks, but very slowly)
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